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Scandinavian Coconut Cookies with Sea Salt

A wooden spoon and a simple recipe are all it takes to create a memory. “I want to help Mama bake cookies,” he says, coming inside and finding out I’m starting to bake. The butter is melting in the saucepan, the coconut measured. There’s really little else to do. And that’s perfect for this particular early-May evening.

I scoop up my little boy and position him on my hip, holding him up with one arm as I show him how the eggs change properties when beaten with sugar in our cobalt blue stand mixer. He’s too heavy to hold like this for long, but with the addition of a little vanilla extract, the components are soon ready to bring to the counter and mix.

He stands at the counter on a stool eager to help. I begin to stir the butter and coconut into the rest of the ingredients and quickly give in, handing him the wooden spoon. He is big enough to try. I am as ready as I’ll ever be to relinquish control of the process. I watch, hoping for minimal spills, as his little hand clutches the wooden handle. I hold the saucepan still as he concentrates and maneuvers the spoon throughout the coconut, the handle just the right size for an easy grip.

I do the rest of the work, dropping little mounds of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets while he watches. He is just like his mother and wants to sample the dough before it’s baked. I must be asking a lot, to make him wait until the cookies are done and we have finished our dinner. But soon enough, soon enough, we’re all back in the kitchen–mom, dad, and son–each eating a cookie before bed.

As many excursions, activities, and adventures I’m tempted to fill our days with, I know that moments like these are special. While I teach and nurture healthy eating habits with my son every day, these occasional baking sessions allow us to connect, to take a little time to engage in an activity together and finally to savor the results of what we have made.

My childhood memories are full of moments like this, helping my mom cook and baking alongside my grandma as she indulged my curiosity when I’d find a recipe of interest.

A wooden spoon and an easy recipe. Yes, that’s all it takes to make a memory. May you make some of your own in the coming days too.

Scandinavian Coconut Cookies with Sea SaltI first wrote about these cookies–adapted from Aquavit: And the New Scandinavian Cuisine by Marcus Samuelsson–almost four years ago. But I love how quick and easy they are to make and decided to revisit them with the addition of sea salt from semiswede.com. I hope you enjoy making them as much as I do.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Melt butter in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and stir in the coconut until well-coated.

Beat eggs in a separate bowl to combine the yolks and whites. Add sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla extract.

Stir the coconut into the eggs until combined. Drop batter by rounded teaspoons into mounds onto the parchment paper, giving almost an inch between cookie. Flatten slightly using the bottom of a glass or the back of a spoon. Stir the batter occasionally as you work to reincorporate the melted butter. Sprinkle each cookie with just a little sea salt; you want to add just a touch of flavor, otherwise they’ll be too salty. Bake until golden, 8 to 11 minutes depending on the size of the cookie.

Hi Michelle, great question. Since you’ll be removing the butter from the heat before you stir in the coconut, it will cool off adequately by the time you’ve mixed up the eggs. So you don’t need to worry about that at all. Enjoy!

These are wonderful! Have had to use more butter than called for –maybe I just can’t tell that the coconut is coated with the proper amount and am overdoing it–but very easy. Desolated my office coworkers with happiness and deliciousness.

Amazing cookies!!! I made these this afternoon with my sons and they have officially declared them our family’s summertime cookie (with your salted chocolate rye cookies taking the cake….er cookie for the winter title)!

Help! I made these today and they were an utter disaster! The batter ran into the other cookies (I left plenty of room, it just ran a long way) and then crystallized on the baking sheet and when I tried to lift them onto a cooling rack they just scrunched up into a big sticky mess! What did I do wrong? How “fluffy” are the eggs supposed to get? Should they be stiff or still runny? Mine were about the consistency of heavy cream when I gave up beating them… The only other thing I changed was melting the butter in the microwave instead of on the stove… I had such high hopes!

Tania, oh no! I’m sorry to hear they didn’t turn out for you. They’re certainly delicate cookies, but I’ve never had a problem with them being crumbly. If I run into that in the future and come up with a solution I’ll let you know!